Titles Regained
by liquified.flames
Summary: They were only a few out of the thousands contemplating the jump. And because every demigod deserves a second chance, they do. The Lethe, as it seemed, was a second chance. And when they met their loved ones, the lightning would flash through their brains and they'd be their former selves once more. Watch as, one by one, each demigod regains their titles. -oneshots-
1. one bianca and lee

Titles Regained **a series of oneshots**

**New project I'm working on. Will be updated every few days. After 25 chapters of this, there will be either a sequel or another prompt, you guys decide. Don't own, enjoy this one. :)**

* * *

She was one of thousands of contemplating people.

Bianca studied the silent water beneath her. It was interesting how the water gushed and writhed with memories, like a human soul, and yet no sound resonated through the dank cavern. Beyond the river limits, Bianca could make out Hypnos' hideout, Morpheus grimly staring at the spirits who were in the process of entering into a new life. If everything worked according to plan, this would be the last time she'd see the familiar sights. They had grown on her over the past two years.

Behind Bianca, her mother and Lee Fletcher (she'd been crushing on him, but don't tell) climbed the hill and joined her.

Maria and Lee clustered with her at the edge. Bianca knew they were mentally weighing the options, like she had done many nights ago.

"You sure, Bi?" asked Lee hesitantly after a long pause. He stepped forward and stood next to Bianca.

"Yes," said Bianca suddenly. "It'd be the only way... well, the Doors are open. I can't have Nico coming after me now, can I?" The last rhetorical question was met with a half-hearted laugh from everybody.

None of them meant it, of course.

Maria di Angelo slowly nodded, tears welling up in her obsidian eyes. "Bianca, my dove, stay safe," she begged, taking both Bianca's hands into her own. "I give you my blessing."

Bianca frowned. "They only do it in the River Styx, Mom," she told her.

"It's for good luck," Maria smiled weakly.

It was hard to put on a brave face, a poker face that would mask all her emotions. Inwardly, she wondered if she'd ever see her mother and friend again.

Lee scrunched up his tiny face and sighed. "Bianca," he said quietly, "Speaking of good luck-"

He leaned in and shyly kissed her on the lips as Maria wept with joy in the background. Everything else faded and Bianca closed her eyes, savoring the last few happy moments of her present life- well, death. How ironic, the daughter of Hades with the son of Apollo.

"Remember this," her best friend pleaded between shuddering breaths. "You're the daughter of Hades, Savior of Percy Freaking Jackson, Indirect Hero of Olympus, a Hunter of Artemis, and the best friend, and daughter, anyone could ask for. Remember, Bianca!"

As Bianca struggled to come up with a response, Lee added softly:

"Promise?"

The river didn't seem so promising now. Her willpower crumbled, and Bianca wrapped Maria and Lee in a tight, tearful hug.

"I promise," she whispered to both of them as she reluctantly let them go.

She turned towards the rushing, silent river. _For Nico, _Bianca told herself, _and Lee and Mom and Percy and Annabeth and Thalia._

And as she was remembering who she was, Bianca di Angelo stepped into the River Lethe.

* * *

"Yours!" yelled Ambrosine, the hyperactive daughter of Apollo.

Ambrosine was, to say the least, insanely ADHD. Much of her time spent in Camp Half-Blood consisted of squealing "Yours!" and walking away from things- and people.

She chucked the sword at her fellow cabin minor Kayla and turned, coming face-to-face with Koli, the son of Erebus. Ever since Camp Half-Blood built the Primordial wing, more demigods than ever had been rolling in. She'd never met a majority of the kids, but maybe that was because she was new.

Ambrosine had never met Koli, but she narrowed her eyes at him anyway. "Do I know you?" she asked suspiciously. Yes, she might have been deluded. Yes, Koli was probably just another emo brat. Kind of like that weird Nico di Angelo kid.

Remember what was said about her being ADHD and incredibly impulsive?

To her surprise, Koli squinted back at her. "I think," he said, sluggishly dragging out every syllable and vowel there was. Ambrosine scowled, waiting for him to finish the sentence. "I think I do."

Koli locked eyes with Ambrosine, and she felt a spark of lightning being passed from both of them. New thoughts emerged in the stormy depths of her mind: _I am Bianca, daughter of Hades..._

Who was Bianca?

Ambrosine must've spoken her thoughts out loud. "Bianca?" asked Koli, frowning. "For that matter, who's Lee?" His speech was faster now, and a stain of excitement colored his blank canvas.

_I am Bianca, _screamed the voice, struggling to stay afloat in the torrent of thoughts clouding Ambrosine's mind. _Daughter of Hades, savior of Percy Freaking Jackson, Indirect Hero of Olympus, a Hunter of Artemis, and the best friend, and daughter, anyone could ask for!_

"Remember, Bianca!" cried Koli, and at the same time Ambrosine blurted, "I promise!"

Then the real flood hit. Ambrosine grasped wildly at the flurry of images shooting through her brain: _in the hotel saved by a lawyer_

The images flashed faster and Ambrosine wasn't Ambrosine anymore, she didn't think. _weird manticore guy who's Annabeth she just jumped off daughter of Athena? saved by some hunters yeah I'll join the hunters I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis I turn my back on the company of men accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt that's it? if Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge then it is binding I feel stronger remember your pledge I'm sorry Percy I want this I really really do hello Zoë irresponsible twin Apollo who the heck is he the sun god oh look Maserati going on the quest Percy saving us it's my fault the monster came after us it's my responsibility here if anything happens give this to Nico tell him, tell him I'm sorry get it to raise its food, she is inside?! electric gah where's my arm sorry Nico sorry sorry sorry sorry hi, Charon Elysium for you hello, Lee Fletcher yes it'd be the only way... well, the Doors are open I can't have Nico coming after me now, can I hardy hardy har promise I promise_

When the last words resonated into her skull, Bianca di Angelo collapsed to her knees.

(linebreak)

She woke up and stared into the face of the legendary Nico di Angelo.

"You still play Mythomagic?" managed Ambrosine/Bianca weakly. Nico's face lit up and he crashed into her, hugging like she was his lifeline.

Were those tears? "Bianca," gasped Nico through awkward chokes. "I found you!"

Ambrosine/Bianca had no idea how to respond. "I don't know who _me _is for the time being," she told him numbly. "Who...?

"My sister. Bianca," Nico confirmed.

"Okay. What the Hades happened?"

Nico sniffled. "You bathed in the River Lethe, Bianca. That's why you couldn't remember, but-" He stopped sniffling and studied her. "Koli is apparently Lee Fletcher, Will Solace confirms. Did you- did you love Lee?"

_Did I? _thought Bianca crazily.

"You did, didn't you? You came in contact with him and him only, and that's when you blacked out."

Bianca nodded slowly, thinking back to all the years she'd spent with Lee by her side and Bianca on his.

"Do I look different now?" asked Bianca worriedly. "I've changed cabins and everything, right?"

Nico nodded and handed her a mirror. What she saw in the reflection was the complete opposite of Ambrosine Dysis: olive skin instead of white, black hair instead of golden blonde, obsidian eyes instead of sky-blue, mild instead of sharp.

But at least she kept her promise to Lee.

_I am the daughter of Hades, Savior of Percy Freaking Jackson, Indirect Hero of Olympus, a Hunter of Artemis, and the best friend, and daughter, anyone could ask for. And now, I'm alive._

**titlesregained**

**Coolio. So post in the reviews who'd you like to see alive again. I'll go work on YBRF now. :D**

**liq**


	2. two luke castellan

Titles Regained **a series of oneshots**

**Oh my gods, guys. Thank you SO MUCH for the good reception last chapter:**

ohsnapitspercy for reviewing;

(Guest) Fisher for reviewing;

notyourleo for reviewing, favoriting, following, and following _me _*chokes back sob*;

Keeta-x-Tribias for reviewing, favoriting, following, following, and favoriting *sniffles*;

Yami Princess for following and favoriting;

nehamerchant123 for following and favoriting;

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grape500 for favoriting.

**I'm sorry if I didn't PM you with a letter of thanks- I try to make that my habit. I'll PM you soon, though, don't worry. **

**Now onto Luke Castellan, because I know you all want it (and notyourleo wants it too)!**

**Don't own, enjoy this one.**

* * *

"I have to!" snapped Luke to a worried Silena.

"_I have to."_

He choked back a throat spasm. Ever since he'd arrived at the Underworld, thinking about his selfishness and greediness and brattiness and stupidness and idioticness and dumbness and self-centeredness and meanness and traitorness and betrayalness, well- he'd been kind of fragile. How the Hades was this _Elysium _if he was plagued with these thoughts _day after day after day after day after day_?

Beckendorf smiled weakly. "Have you heard of that Hazel kid? She got a second chance. Bianca and Lee left the other day, too. For Luke, another chance-" He caught himself, trying not to remind Luke of his past choices. "Why can't Luke get one?"

"I need to fix my mistakes," replied Luke brusquely, scowling at the ground. "I need a second chance, Beckendorf, and you of all people know that. I need a break from all the guilt!" His voice was constantly rising. "Every night I go to sleep knowing I killed pretty much all of you! I can't live with this anymore!" By this time, Luke was yelling his throat raw.

The son of Hephaestus looked taken aback, and Silena's eyes watered. Luke softened and toed the sandy ground, allowing himself to look over his shoulder at the new girl, Rue, cooking barbecue.

When he least expected it, Silena closed the two-foot gap and gave Luke a bone-crushing hug. Beckendorf did, too, and Luke hugged them both back- because what use was manliness if the person you were hugging was going to be completely erased from your memory?

"Bye, Luke," Silena whispered, "and give me a big hug to Annabeth for me."

Luke wanted to remind her that _I'm gonna be completely and totally mind-wiped, remember? _but no sound came out from his mouth.

"Will- will you wait for me?" asked Luke hesitantly.

Beckendorf took Silena's hand. "I, uh, want to start over, too," he told Luke sadly, "but I'm not sure just yet."

What did he expect? That Beckendorf and Silena would just jump into the Lethe with him? Luke nodded numbly, not allowing any hurt to alter his feelings. "So I guess this is goodbye?" he asked softly.

It was, and everybody knew that.

(linebreak)

The Lethe was so silent. _A silent killer, _thought Luke sourly, _like I was when I gave in to Kronos._

He had to stop associating everything with his choices, but Luke couldn't help it. The whitewater river below him was his only escape.

He thought back to two nights ago, when Bianca announced her decision to Lee, Silena, Beckendorf, Zoë, Michael Yew, and Ethan. The whole cast, the circle of friendsin Elysium. Lee hadn't mentioned anything about jumping in after her, but apparently he did. Everyone knew they crushed on each other, after all.

It was last night when he finally knew he had to. Silena and Beckendorf had been horrified, but Luke suspected they knew the day would come.

Strangely, Luke was hit with a sense of nostaligia: would he be a demigod? Would he meet Thalia and Annabeth again? Would he have a- gods forbid- chance with Thalia?

_Now you're being stupid and deluded, _scolded his inner voice crossly.

"Shut _up!" _yelled Luke audibly. The other spirits stared curiously, but Luke didn't care.

He took a deep breath. _No more waiting. _And like a hero, Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, Hero of Olympus jumped into the silently screaming cataracts.

* * *

Camp Jupiter was big, wide, and incredibly dumb.

Zachary Hillmonk was tired of left-right-left-right-left. Who was that stupid, obstinate Octopus guy, anyway? Better yet, who did he think he was? All he did was slash the necks of Beanie Babies- there went another one.

"March!" barked Octavian, the so-called praetor of the camp.

Zach marched.

Where was that other guy, Percy Jackson? Zachary had heard about the rumors that the Greeks were still alive and kicking; maybe Percy was with them. Surely he would be better than Mr. Beanie Baby Murderer.

"Hillmonk!" screeched Octavian. "Keep the pace! We must overcome the Greeks!"

Zachary wanted to screech right back at him: _What did overcoming Greeks had to do with keeping the pace?_

He knew the answer, of course. Octavian's troops were going to march on Camp Half-Blood in two days, and Octopus was riling up the legion into a war frenzy. Zach had arrived, oh, about two minutes earlier, was claimed by Mercury one minute earlier, and he was already beginning to hate it.

Suddenly, Octopus froze in shock. The entire legion did, too, and two hundred adolescent kids tumbled over one another.

_Sorry, First Cohort, _thought Zachary blankly as he toppled onto another fellow Fifth Cohort soldier.

He watched in amazement as eighteen silver-clad teenagers leapt into the clearing and trained their impeccably designed bows on Octavian. A girl no more than fifteen strode forward and slapped all of his weapons out of reach. Her face was hidden by a black cloak, but her eyes- they were scarily electric blue, kind of like lightning. "So," she ambled conversationally, "how's life, Augur Butt?"

"Greeks!" screeched Octavian.

The girl looked slightly amused. "Percy told me about you. It won't be hard to kill you, you know? I could just-" she mimicked drawing her bow and an arrow crackling with electricity appeared in the nock. "-set this free."

"Who," asked Octavian in a leering sneer, "exactly are you?"

Zachary got the feeling that he knew exactly who she was.

"Is it any of your business?" the girl shot back, fingers popping with sparks. "If anything, I should be helping _you _with your little identity crisis."

Octavian was starting to get mad. "I am the rightful-"

The girl sighed. "Save it," she said lazily. "You already know who I am. As for the rest of the campers, my name is Thalia and I already hate all of you."

All the campers around Zach turned paper-white, like they'd encountered Thalia before and it wasn't a good memory.

"Why are you here?" demanded Octavian angrily. Well, he was always demanding things angrily.

Thalia examined the electric arrow. "On a mission for my Lady, of course. We'd thought we'd...stop by." There was a hidden, sarcastic undertone to _stop by, _like _stop by to massacre you all._

Her hooded figure raised its head. She examined the crowd, eyes narrowing when she got to Zachary. "And you-" Thalia pointed an accusing finger at him. "-come with me."

* * *

"Are you a son of Mercury?" asked Thalia abruptly, once he and the Hunter had strode out of earshot. Her cloak had been forgotten on the ground, and Zach noted her punk hairstyle and fierce demeanor.

Zachary nodded dumbly, scratching behind his ear and flicking off some gunk (and hoping Thalia didn't notice).

She did notice. _"Boys," _she swore under her breath in Ancient Greek.

"Yeah," managed Zachary. Impulsively, he added, "And who's your mother?"

A light shifted in Thalia's eyes, and Zachary immediately knew he'd hit a sore spot. "_Fa-ther,_" corrected Thalia irritatedly, enunciating every syllable. "My father is Zeus."

Zach stared in amazement, and Thalia's fingers twitched like she was ready to slap him.

"So- why did you call me out?" questioned Zachary hesitantly.

Thalia glared at him a little. "The other day, my cousin Nico's sister Bianca came back from the dead. Nico told me that a certain Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, would be the newest son of Mercury. You'd be Luke in a new life. So, there."

"How-?"

"He's a son of Hades," said Thalia. "Does this ring a bell anywhere?"

Zachary toed the ground and thought hard. The name Luke Castellan struck a new thought in his head, but it was hard to make out the details. He hoped Thalia didn't mind him stalling so long- that girl had the best poker face ever.

He didn't know anything about the Hero of Olympus-

Hero of Olympus?

Zach squeezed his eyes shut. Whoever Luke was, he didn't really dedicate himself to who he actually was. _Who was the Hero- I was the Hero of Olympus- whaaaat? _Whenever he tried to complete a thought, something in his mind interceded in the same, irritated voice Thalia always used.

_No, my name is Zachary- Luke Castellan._

_I'm only a- Hero of Olympus._

Yes, it was annoying. And annoyingly, this was the only way to extract information from his former self.

_Who are you? _demanded Zachary angrily. He was turning into Octavian.

He could swear the voice winced. _Luke Castellan. Son of Hermes. I'm you._

_What? _

_I, _said Luke, _am you._

Zachary scowled a little. _How can you be me?_

_I am._

"Okay, hold it," exclaimed Zachary out loud. Thalia jumped and looked expectantly at him. "There's a guy in my head, says his name is Luke Castellan. Now that we've established that I am somebody else, how-?"

"Oh, you're new, aren't you?" groaned Thalia.

Zach nodded meekly.

Thalia sighed. "Okay, let's rewind," she said, "Luke dipped himself in the River Lethe, which washes away all your memory after you arrive in the Underworld. There you can start your life over as a new person. In Luke's past life, he made some major..." Thalia hesitated, and Zach sensed her intense discomfort over this topic. In his head, Spirit Luke made some sort of loud, throat-tearing sobbing noise. "Major mistakes. He wanted to start over, but my friend slash cousin, the son of Hades, said that if you met your-" Again, Thalia stopped short. Zachary wondered what Luke meant to Thalia, with the stoic girl choking up whenever she mentioned him. Carefully, she continued: "Your loved one. If you met your loved one in your new life, most demigods would be allowed to regain their former memories again. So I just thought- Luke-"

Her throat bobbed up and down, and the normally hard tone she used turned nasally and thick. "Luke would come back."

_Yes! _screamed Luke from inside Zach's head. _Yes, Thalia!_

"Luke screamed at me to say yes," reported Zachary dutifully.

Thalia actually looked hopeful. "Say yes, then!" she commanded him.

_Yes? _Zach told/asked Luke.

He could almost feel Luke grin. _You're going to black out, okay? Three, two_

* * *

When Luke Castellan moaned and opened his eyes, the first thing he said was:

"I didn't even get to one."

He tiredly stood up. Thalia, who had her back turned to Luke, whirled around and immediately caught his eye. They shared a moment of pure tension, eye to eye, hands twitching, before Thalia threw her arms around him in a hug tighter than humanly/demigodly possible. "Luke," she breathed into his shoulder, before she pulled away and promptly sucker-punched him in the gut.

"Thalia," groaned Luke painfully, and he collapsed back to the ground. "Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" snapped Thalia.

Luke winced. "Seriously, Thals-"

"And don't call me Thals!"

"Seriously, Thalia. I really- I don't-"

_What if the voice returned again? _he thought hysterically. _What if I need to die again?_

"Luke," said Thalia urgently, kneeling down next to him. "Luke, I don't hate you. Come back to Camp Half-Blood with me."

The son of Hermes studied her. "You don't hate me?" he mumbled disbelievingly. "Thalia, I poisoned you, I killed my friends, I killed my followers, I almost killed you. How can-" Luke flopped back down again. "-you not hate me?"

"I don't," said Thalia, grinning down at him.

Luke closed his eyes. "Did you love me?" he asked in a low murmur.

The smile slipped off of Thalia's face, not that Luke could see it. She sat down slowly next to him.

"Yes," admitted Thalia. "I did."

Luke's eyes snapped open again. "You used past tense," he noted blandly.

Thalia stiffened, and Luke choked back the marble in his throat. _Darn these onion cutting ninjas!_

"I did use past tense," said Thalia carefully. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you anymore."

"Do we have... a chance?" asked Luke.

The answer was blunt. "Not anymore."

Luke buried his face in his hands. _Not anymore! _taunted the voice that had haunted him in the Underworld.

_You're still here? _hissed Luke.

And like always, the voice never replied, leaving Luke to his own angsts.

Thalia looked concerned. "Luke? Are you all right?" she asked him, gripping his ice-cold hand.

"Yes," managed Luke. "Thalia, there's a voice in my head-"

"What?"

"A voice in my head." Luke proceeded to tell her the hauntings, the tauntings, the blows that it dealt on Luke every night.

Thalia looked thoughtful for a long time. "Luke," she said finally, "we can get through this together." She took Luke's hand.

"For now, just focus on staying alive."

Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes and Hero of Olympus only nodded.

**titlesregained**

**Wow, that was a long chapter. Any other character requests? If there are none, I'm planning to do Silena and Beckendorf next chapter. You can also choose living characters and I'll portray them like they died.**

**Now to work on other chapters. Happy Labor Day!**

**liq**


	3. three piper and leo

Titles Regained **a series of oneshots**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT! Thanks again to:**

notyourleo for reviewing;

annabeth lopez for favoriting;

fearless727 for favoriting;

coolist27 for favoriting;

Verareve for favoriting;

wisdom-of-the-sea for favoriting and following (oh, and, by the way, I spelled your name wrong last chapter with no hyphens...sorry);

Hanalei for following; aaaaaaand

chinfev1203 for following.

**What do you guys want for a pre-chapter section? Behind-the-scenes of how the characters died as a short story, or a Q&A, or what?**

**By the way, I changed the first chapter name [one bianca di angelo] to [one bianca and lee]. Though it wasn't all focused on Lee, I think I needed that.**

**Now onto Piper and Leo, because you know you love it! And ****notyourleo**** wants it too, so I'm expecting that Liper fic soon. :D I'm going to write more in this chapter just 'cause I love Liper.**

**Don't own PJO. Enjoy this one.**

* * *

Leo Valdez hated Fate so much.

Right now, he and Piper were back-to-back, facing a ring of growling monsters, among other things. The only thing separating Leo and Piper from the incredibly angry forms of imminent death was a wall of fire- and even that wasn't enough. It was too much for both of them, Leo _knew, _and any second one of the giant platypuses would explode and the dragon would attack and he and Piper would probably never come out alive.

Nevermind how he got there.

_No, _he reprimanded himself yet again, _giant exploding platypuses were not funny. _

Platypuses? Platypi?

It was getting more and more difficult to put up the wall of fire. How the Hades had Gaea sent the entire monster population of America out to get _them?_

As much as it hurt to say it, they were doomed. Leo knew Piper was tired, Leo knew Leo was tired, and Leo knew the monsters were just _beginning_.

"Piper," he called urgently out of the corner of his mouth, and the girl tensed. "Piper, I can sacrifice the last of my energy to kill all of these monsters, but I'll kill both of us in the process. I can't spare enough concentration to protect you."

"What?" Piper exclaimed, shocked. There was a trace of indignant stubbornness in her tone. "No, Leo, we're going to come out alive!"

Of course that was a lie. "You think?"

Piper hesitated. "Okay, maybe not," she said. "Are you sure, though? How can you die from your fire?" She'd admittedly been a little unfocused after Jason finally decided on Reyna- and as an Aphrodite girl, Piper had taken that really, really hard.

Leo scowled at her in his head and waited for her to remember the answer.

"Right, you're sacrificing all your energy," she amended.

"_Na para i eychi!" _He cursed as a thought resurfaced again, one that Leo had shoved away in the haze of the moment. "Piper, you _do _realize you're not fireproof, right?" The ring of fire around them was slowly burning out, and a bead of sweat trickled down Leo's face.

"It's dying and taking out all these monsters," said Piper slowly, like she was talking to a kindergardener, "or being captured and tortured for information by Gaea." She stabbed a monster head through the flames, but her actions and footwork were getting sluggish- and as much as she hid her fatigue, Piper's heavy panting gave it all away.

Leo sighed. "You're right."

Piper stalled a little. "I just wanted to let you know, Leo-" She paused quickly, before barreling on.

"Make it- make it count, okay? I-I love you."

"Me too," squeaked Leo, eyes widening. His hands slacked to his sides for a moment, and the firewall sizzled to a candle-like flame. The monsters stared at him and each other in confusion. _Get over it! _scolded his inner voice crossly. _You have a job to do!_

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Leo relished the sunny, wanted feeling of the thought, ran his fingers through its energy, lived in the moment. The world sharpened into high definition, and Leo concentrated the fire and let loose.

_Showtime. _

And as the first hellhound charged, he let out a defiant yell and imagined himself turning into a dragon. Behind him, Piper fought through the rivulets of sweat running down her face and sprinted forward, charmspeaking and slashing with a renewed willpower.

_More energy, _he urged the already sky-high flames, something he'd never risked himself to do before. The fire roared with a renewed force. Blazed. Burnt.

_No more! _screamed his demigod consciousness.

For the first time in his life, Leo fought back the instinct. _More! _

(The ADHD side of him wondered if he had enough firepower to write _LEO IS DA MAN _in capital letters in the sky.)

Black spots danced in his vision and he felt his life force draining out of him in the form of pure heat. In an instant, he knew it wasn't enough- Leo's energy was depleting fast, too fast. He closed his eyes again and channeled anger, frustration, love, hope, confidence, and Leo-style all in one.

It took a moment, but it worked. In the most powerful move he'd ever played in his life, a wave of white-hot lava burst from his fingers, disintegrating monsters and pooling around Piper's buckling legs. But Leo didn't had enough time to catch her, didn't have enough time to marvel at his new creation, didn't have enough time to feel the power coursing through his body.

Because in a completely Leo-style last move, the blazing flames reared themselves stubbornly one last time and consumed his world.

* * *

"Chi-ron," read Leo carefully from the guy's nametag.

"_Cha_ron_!" _snapped Charon irritably. "You godlings have no literacy skills!"

Piper looked a little miffed. "We," she reminded him, "are dyslexic demigods."

"Does it _look _like I care?" complained Charon in complete annoyance. "My pay raise hasn't been able to buy the newest Italian suit over there!" He jerked his thumb over at the _Medusa's Finest Suits _across the street. "Mesuda makes the _best _silk suits!" He paused, looking over Leo's shoulder and barked, "Dzhokhar Tsarneav! You are suspended for another two hundred thousand years! Add that to your hundred million and three!"

Leo turned around and squinted out of the frosted glass windows. "Illiterate as I am, I'm _so_ sure that says _Medusa, _not _Mesuda," _he told Charon.

"Why would Medusa make fine Italian silk suits?" scoffed Charon. Leo struggled to come up with an answer to the question he was asking himself, but Piper answered for him.

"Maybe she just _does_!" Piper suggested brightly. (_A-plus! Best freaking answer ever! _thought Leo gruffly.) Throwing in some charmspeak, she added, "And maybe you can just let us go to the Underworld, since we don't have any drachmas!"

Her charmspeak was getting more powerful, Leo noted, as he brutally beat down the urge to dutifully say _Yes, I will let you go to the Underworld for free!_

Charon hesitated. "Well," he said slowly, "I guess I could let you go. Once."

"Once," promised Piper.

"Once," repeated Charon as he strolled over and pressed the _Down _button on the elevator.

* * *

Leo decided that meeting Thomas Jefferson was way less cool than he thought it would be.

His stoic golden mask studied Leo judgmentally and Leo shivered. "Sacrificed himself and killed all surrounding vile monsters in the immediate area in honor and valiant valor instead of shamefully being captured by the gods' worst foe Gaea and having his crimson blood spilled on the cold Stones of Rome," announced Thomas dramatically. _Wordy much?_

Beside him, Minos scowled- somehow managing to direct the glare at Thomas _and _Leo. He said, feigning sympathy, "Alas, he killed best friend and lover Piper McLean in the process."

_Lover?! _Leo almost choked.

"Yes, lover," deadpanned William Shakespeare. "And do not be indignant about my powers over your mind. Please refrain from insulting me."

The three judges focused their creepy laser masks on Leo, and Leo almost completely freaked because they were _extracting his memories. _In dumb awe, Leo watched his existence unfold before his eyes: his birth, his first cry, his mother, alive and laughing and well. And then it sped up and Leo almost had a migraine trying to catch up (yeah, he wondered why he _tried_): his _bisabuelo_ holding him. tia callida appearing. running away once. foster home. running. bullied. fighting. laughing. running. foster home. _running. camp half-blood. fightinglaughingfriendsargogaeafightingfightingvic tory-_

His entire life was displayed on the black curtains.

The judges muttered to each other for an excruciatingly long time, and Leo felt a teensy little bit worried, because honestly, did it really have to take that much discussion? Leo caught the words _Fire, Hephaestus, and Food_, but it wasn't like he knew anything about the outcome. Minos looked intensely unhappy about something, bringing out a cattle prod in animated conversation.

Just when Leo was about to decide _Punishment _for himself (well, if he had to _decide, _he'd pick the Isles of the Blest- nachos every day!), Minos stood up abruptly, with an almost disappointed look on his face. "The judgement is unanimous," he declared, and Leo screeched in his head, _Unanimous?! _

"Elysium," said all three judges at once.

Relieved as he was, Leo threw them one last dirty glare over his shoulder as he shuffled out of the tent.

"How was it?" asked Piper the instant Leo stepped out, watching his disconcerted face amusedly. "Gave you a hard time?"

The two demigods started plodding down the- oh, very _freaking _funny- yellow brick road.

"Hard time," frowned Leo, "is a mild way to put it."

Piper laughed, and they trekked on. "What did they do?"

"Do sons of Athena _so often _make habits of threatening to throw things?" complained Leo loudly.

Piper snickered behind her hand something about _Malcolm, _and Leo snorted in derision.

They continued on the yellow brick road- _Off to the wizard we go, _thought Leo, and Leo's Annoying Inner Conscience thought, _To our deaths._

"Talking to yourself," explained Leo to Piper, whose eyebrow looked like it was going to shoot through the Underworld's ceiling into the land of the living. "You should try it sometime."

* * *

In a nutshell, Elysium just wasn't enough.

Okay, sure, there were some cool people left. Silena and Beckendorf, Zoë and that nice lady Mrs. di Angelo- man, they were almost like family-at-first-sight. (You know, like love at first sight but _family _at first sight.)

Even amongst the heroes, Leo suddenly realized how lonely he was without Percy and Jason and Annabeth and Frank and Hazel. As familyistic as they were, the oldies weren't Leo's _friends, _not yet. Leo missed the crazy sarcasm, the blunt openness, the trust between the Seven.

And Piper did, too.

One day, after the annual Barbecue Day, Piper caught Leo's attention by shoving a balloon into his face and pulling him aside.

"One," Leo started instantly once they were out of earshot. "Was the balloon really necessary? I mean, pink latex? You've got to be kidding me." He made no effort to pull it out.

Piper rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Sorry," she said unsympathetically.

"What's the deal?"

The girl sighed and tugged at her eagle feather, pulling it out of her still-intact braid. "I've been thinking."

_Uh-oh. _Leo knew from years of experience that when a girl _thought, _it meant trouble. Fortunately, this time wasn't like that.

Piper's eyes flicked up, scanning his for any emotion. "Leo, we both know we don't belong."

Leo agreed. A week with the dead demigods and he _still _felt wrong, kind of like trying to push puzzle piece into a completed picture. It was sappy, but the puzzle Leo belonged in wasn't finished yet. That one was with Jason, Annabeth, Percy, and all the others-

In the land of the living, Leo realized.

"We have to go back," said Leo, understanding Piper's message.

"That's the thing," Piper said with a hint of pain in her voice. She stared off into the distance wistfully. "If we jump into the Lethe, we'll lose all our memory."

Piper abruptly turned and locked eyes with Leo, green against brown.

"Unless-" Piper trailed off.

Leo's eyes smoldered (literally _and _nonliterally). "What you said before we died. Did you really-?"

Piper looked down.

"We can stay friends, Leo, please? Pretend it never-"

"No!" Leo burst out, nose lighting on fire. "I said _me, too, _didn't I?"

There was a moment of tight, electric silence. Leo knew that if somebody pounced on him, right there in that alley, he would probably just kill the poor guy.

(Even though they were all dead. Leo would find a way.)

Finally, Leo broke the tense stare by stepping forward and enveloping Piper in a hug, the heat in the air dying almost completely. Piper pulled away with tears in her eyes- now brown just like Leo's.

What happened next was a blur. Piper placed her hands on Leo's shoulders (later, he _did _remember thinking it was a relief he was taller) and Leo didn't think of doing the same, his hands remaining dumbly on her waist.

Piper's hands floated up to the sides of his head and then she pulled it close and she leaned up and _kissed _Leo, Piper McLean kissed Leo Valdez, and the touch was short and sweet and it was just a peck but it felt like- don't laugh- an _eternity _for Leo, and in that moment Leo actually seriously thought _Wow, my life is pretty good _and when she pulled away-

Leo gaped stupidly at the brick wall.

Her laugh was short and sweet- _just like the kiss, _Leo thought in a daze.

"We'll be together?" she asked him, and Leo thought, _Duh!_

"Um ah gah," said Leo intelligently. "Yeah."

Piper smiled, and this time Leo gathered his senses enough to lean in again, heads tilted, eyes fluttering shut. This time, they both closed their eyes at the same time. This time, the kiss was long and caring and sweet and so _Leoish_.

Leo never imagined that his first _real _kiss would be in an empty alleyway, surrounded by shouts of a barbecue party, _dead, _with melting pink plastic stretched across his left eyebrow.

And he never imagined he wouldn't care a bit.

* * *

"I think I'm going to be born into the British Royal Family," said Leo as he and Piper walked along the- it was _kind of _funny now- a yellow brick road.

(Then he added _to our deaths _after that and suddenly it wasn't funny anymore.)

Piper scoffed. "Not a chance. You'd be some sort of repair boy."

Leo looked offhandedly at her. "You _do _mean Supreme Commander of the Argo II, right?" he asked Piper in a fake British accent. "Besides, what are _you _gonna do about it? We'll meet each other, anyway."

"The others were lucky," said Piper. "We might meet each other in Ancient Greece."

"Whaaaat?" Leo stopped short. "Which means we'll be teleported to the present time?"

Piper didn't answer, eye twitching. "Scratch that. We'll be born sixteen years before 2013," she amended after a long pause.

"Which means we'll meet each other in 2013 again?"

"Let's do each other a favor and never speak of this again. Just to prevent our brains breaking."

"Deal," said Leo, spreading his hands.

"Greek myths, huh," laughed Piper.

(They continued on in silence.)

Leo thought he'd hear the river, hear the roaring of the rapids and the battering of the waves. With no water noises anywhere near him, he figured they had a mile or two to continue walking.

The two demigods reached the peak of the hill and peered down, expecting maybe more hills, more of the yellow brick path to guide them down. Leo stared at the breaking waves in surprise and some kind of horrified fascination.

"Woah," said Leo.

The Lethe was weird.

In short, it looked like a milk factory had dumped all their milky goodness into the river. (Why, Leo wasn't sure.) The currents twisted and writhed, almost in sick beauty, and a nine foot tall wave crashed down into the rapids- but there was _no sound. _It was silent, even though the river _looked_ like it was going to rise up and scream itself raw any second. Even in the dim cavern, the Lethe was well-lit and prominent.

The water, Leo realized, _glowed. _

Beside him, Piper frowned at the River Lethe. "We're going in _there_?" she asked the air skeptically, eyeing the dangerously sudden riptide and the low, worried murmur of the spirits. And, of course, the ridiculously luminescent waves. From behind her shoulder, Leo watched a spirit jump down- and instead of floundering in the waves, he completely disappeared. At least there was no worry about _missing _the river itself_._

"Yes," said Leo slowly, "apparently." He was beginning to have his doubts.

The two walked cautiously out to the bank of the river, where it became clear that the tides had _boundaries. _Leo expected some milky spray to fly towards his face any second, maybe end him earl with a single droplet, but the water's reaches apparently only extended to about four feet- and then it abruptly stopped. It was perfectly dry an inch next to the Lethe.

"I guess this is it," remarked Leo brightly as he crouched to stare at the cloudy water.

Piper scowled. "At a moment like this," she breathed, shaking her head slightly, "that was the worst thing possible to say. Ever_."_

Leo stood up again and took her hand. "I'm serious, Piper."

The girl sighed determinedly. "I'm ready when you are," said Piper, closing her eyes. She clasped one hand on her Camp Half-Blood necklace (with a single, lone bead, which Leo found incredibly sad) and tightened her grip on Leo.

"Count of three?" asked Leo.

Piper nodded and stood closer to Leo. "I love you, Leo Valdez. Don't forget, because if you do I'll personally kick your skinny little butt into the middle of next-"

"I do, too," Leo finished for her. He stared at the river below him. "I'll see you later, right?"

The two managed a weak smile at each other, and Leo, always the charmer, pulled Piper into the last hug they'd ever share as _themselves. _Piper pushed away for a second, but then pulled him back into a lingering kiss.

And then she unclasped her hands from around him and Leo missed the warmth, but it was time and they both knew it was.

"One-"

"Two-" Leo squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to the god of coincidences.

"Three."

They jumped.

* * *

Cashlin Sallow sneered in disgust. "I," she asked the nearest Aphrodite kid, "am going to be staying _here?" _The girl examined the yellow decorations, the green and pink accents.

"Yes," came the immediate reply, quickly firing back three more questions: "So what if you're too diva to stay in a nice warm cabin? You want it to be what it was before? What are you, a Venus girl or something?"

The answerer was a tall, stern-faced daughter of Aphrodite who'd been lounging on the newly built mahogany porch. She had piercing brown eyes and straight black hair cascading over her shoulders, porcelain skin and an Asian complexion. A dagger on a golden chain was strapped to her ripped jeans.

"Who are _you _to tell me that?" snapped Cashlin, stomping up the stairs. Her golden eyes narrowed and she flipped her platinum-blonde hair back for effect.

The Asian girl met Cashlin's glare with a similar, calmer gaze. "My name is Celosia Lai," she replied icily. "Who are _you, _and who do you think you are?_" _

"My name is Cashlin Sallow, thank you very much!" cried Cashlin.

"Okay, then. Get out of my cabin," said Celosia in a no-nonsense voice.

"No," said Cashlin, stepping primly into the threshold of the Aphrodite cabin.

Instantly, a shock of pink lightning shot out and jumped from Cashlin's hot pink heels into her leg, and the diva shrieked. Celosia mildly glanced up from her book for a minute, raising an eyebrow.

"You're Roman," noted Celosia. "My mother does not allow children of Venus in her cabin. Why are you even in Camp Half-Blood?"

Cashlin rolled her eyes passively. "Like I care." She lifted her foot to try again.

Celosia put a hand on her dagger, and she slowly rose from her lawn chair. "Get. Out. Of. My. Cabin," she ordered.

"Who are you, anyway?" exclaimed Cashlin. "Show me your cabin counselor!"

"I _am_ the cabin counselor," said Celosia in a dangerously low voice, eyes darkening.

"Prove it," Cashlin shot back.

Celosia raised an eyebrow. "Do you not believe me, Cashlin?"

"Who did you replace? Let me ask her!" challenged Cashlin.

The counselor's eyes flared and a smooth _schhnk _was the only tip-off that Celosia had drawn her dagger. "Piper McLean, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, who is now _deceased-_" she said.

She froze.

Time seemed to clack to a complete halt as the two girls stared at each other in wide-eyed apprehension. Their eyes met, and a bolt of clarity shocked away all of her native thoughts.

Cashlin didn't really know what happened next. Four words shot into her head in big bright letters: _I'll see you later_.

_I'll see you later_.

_I'll see you later_.

_I'll see you later_.

_I'll see you later_.

The echoing resonated louder and louder and louder and louder and louder_. _A flood of foreign memories tinted in a bright, warm fire flooded her mind, and the next thing she remembered was black.

* * *

"He's awake!" announced Nico triumphantly. He might've been softly calling, but to Cashlin/Leo, Nico sounded like he was screaming in her/his ear and pounding her/his head with a metal bat filled with Laistrygonian giants.

Cashlin/Leo moaned and covered her/his face with her/his hands. "Nico di freaking Angelo, if you don't tell me what gender I am in three, two-"

Nico stifled a guffaw. "You're Leo again," he assured Leo with a grin.

From another room, Piper yelled, "Is he conscious?"

"Body-conscious, yes," Nico shouted back, "but brain-conscious, I'm not sure. Does he always look like a cauliflower?"

Leo flashed Nico an _I'll-kill-you-later _look and groaned again. "Get Piper here," he commanded, and he curled up in his sheets.

Nico chortled. "Piper!" he called, and the girl shuffled in tiredly. "See you guys later," he added hastily.

He bolted out the door, and Leo could understand why.

Piper looked murderous.

"I," ground out Piper before sinking tiredly into a chair, "hate my mom's sense of _humor."_

"Why?" asked Leo, cracking a smile.

The daughter of Aphrodite glared at the sky. "For making me _another _daughter of Aphrodite and the cabin leader. Again."

"Isn't that _good_?" scowled Leo. "I was a daughter of Venus who apparently was also related to Octavian."

"Okay, maybe your situation was worse."

Leo laughed. "Isn't that always the case?"

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"What do we do now?" asked Leo quietly into the open air. Keeping his eyes on the clock, he scooted up and rested against the side of Piper's armchair.

Piper suddenly became extraordinarily interested in the folds of Leo's abandoned blanket. "Live our lives, I guess," she replied softly. "Save the world again. The usual."

Leo craned his neck around to face her. "That's a really good idea, Beauty Queen."

"I told you not to call me that," said Piper, poking him in the eye.

"And I said fat chance," Leo shot back.

Piper relaxed back into her chair, grinning. "Just like the old days, huh?"

"Except for one thing." Leo's voice had grown serious and he slouched back onto his bed. "Jason's taken, by Reyna, so-"

"I thought I had made that issue clear that it was fixed," interrupted Piper with a smile on her face. She climbed onto Leo's bed as she waited for a reaction.

Leo's jaw dropped. "Did you just ask me out?"

"I believe I just did, Repair Boy," joked Piper.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Piper McLean would ask the Almighty Superior Commander of the Argo II out."

"Don't get so full of yourself," warned Piper, but then she let out a carefree laugh. "I could get used to this."

Leo grinned back, and he leaned in. His eyes had already closed and his lips waited for pure bliss- until it was all ruined, _just like everything else in his life._

"GET A ROOM!" Nico's disgusted bellow filled the entire room, and Piper's eyes narrowed to tiny little slits.

"We _are_ in a room!" she growled.

Leo ground his teeth. "I'm going to kill the guy," he grumbled.

Unfortunately, there was no guy left to kill.

"Whoops," Nico whispered meekly.

As Leo leapt out of bed and scrambled madly to the door, Nico paled and careened out of the threshold into the wall, melting into the shadows- leaving Leo to faceplant onto the cement brick.

Leo sighed heavily and slowly peeled his limbs off the wall, trudging back to the bed. "That wasn't a mistake at all, by the way. I like cement walls."

"Even more than me?" asked Piper amusedly with a raised eyebrow.

"Correction: Less than you, but more than Octavian."

Piper grinned and leaned in, touching her lips to Leo's just for a second. Then she dove off the mattress and hit the ground running. "Race you to lunch!" she yelled joyfully.

Leo groaned. "Not fair!" he shouted back, tiredly slithering off the sheets.

Then he pulled himself up and sprinted out the door, back into his life.

* * *

**Well...**

**Also, just wanted to say that you ****_can _****write fanfictions about this- any speculations, plot holes you want to explore, blah blah blah. On one condition: PM me the link! :D**

**Anyways. Bye, and tell me in the reviews which couple you want next! It should be Percabeth if I don't get any feedback. :)**

**liq.**


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